


Silent Confessions, Grand Gestures

by MegaraNoelle



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cute, De-aged Bucky, De-aged tony, Fluff, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Tony hates magic, WinterIron Spring Fling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-04 06:27:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10985256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaraNoelle/pseuds/MegaraNoelle
Summary: Who knew that it would take a small Hydra faction to bring Tony and Bucky together? Now Steve is stuck babysitting his best friends, and dealing with them being in love, and not being shy about it at all.





	Silent Confessions, Grand Gestures

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Karinna_Universe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karinna_Universe/gifts).



“Dammit, Cap!” Tony shouted as he jerked to the side, his sensors warning him about the shield that was flying in his direction, bouncing off the helmeted head of the HYDRA Agent, and flying back to its owner. “Warn a guy!”

“We didn’t know that you were on site, Iron Man,” Captain America responded over the comms, looking over at his teammate. Tony knew that wherever the blonde was, his cold, (but incredibly hot and steamy), shadow would be nearby.

“That would be the unfortunate complication when HYDRA knocks out all long range communications,” Tony grumbled, giving the unconscious agent a kick in the side, just because. Tony had been in a meeting with a potential investor in France, at his rented Villa to show off a little bit of extravagance, when the power had flickered and Jarvis alerted him through his in ear communicator. Jarvis had been unable to communicate with the Tower, or the temporary system setup in the Villa, or even to the suit, unless he was in a 30 foot range.

Tony had apologized to the investor, let his Iron Man bracelets flash a little to inform him of Avengers business, and quickly suited up in the gardens. In the suit he was able to boost the signal to find out what had disrupted his signals, (because no one was able to take out Jarvis, even in a rented home). It had taken a little bit of flying around, of Jarvis checking lots of signals, to find the little HYDRA band of thugs on the outside of the village he was in. Enough time it seemed for Captain America, and the Winter Soldier, to show up.

Tony turned to see an approaching HYDRA agent for down, not to the shield, and Tony nodded a little, knowing that Barnes would see it. Tony was ever thankful that the helmet covered his face, or else James, and Steve, and just the rest of the team, would see when Tony lost himself a little watching James at the end of a fight.

During a fight, such as the one they were involved in at the moment, James was the Winter Soldier. He took great pains, and lots of time, to come to terms with the other part of him that was the Soldier, no longer the Asset. He had been offered the chance to pull the Winter Soldier from his mind by means of magic, but there were no guarantees of what would happen after such spells were cast. After Steve had found Bucky and brought him back to the Tower, (most unconscious), Tony had quietly offered another tactic. Not a solution, but something that might help him start to come to terms with all the things that he remembered, and what would help him unlock the rest of the memories of James “Bucky” Barnes. That’s when James started to fall in love with the crazy genius.

And it was the same crazy genius he was watching through the scope of his sniper rifle, seeing the nod in the Iron Man armor, and fought back the little smirk that James wanted to show. He could hear Tony and Steve talking in the comms, but stayed silent. He pulled away from gazing at Tony to survey the area. They had gotten the information that there was just a small contingent of HYDRA lackeys, so it was generally thought to be okay to just send Cap and the Soldier.

Iron Man had taken out two agents, Steve had taken out two, and the Soldier had taken out one. There really wasn’t reason for there to be any more, but he would take another sweep over to make sure.

“Everything all good?” Steve asked, putting his shield on his back, and starting to make his way towards Tony. “We thought that you were busy with SI stuff. Pepper made us swear not to call you in unless it was world ending.”

Tony let out a little sigh and turned to face Steve. “I was, and Pepper is just really going to have my hide, but this kind of became a priority.” A gentle press of his fingers inside the gauntlet had the helmet retracting to reveal his head. “They took down Jarvis, and basically my communications overall; probably hijacked the cell towers too.”

“That would explain why Jarvis didn’t get our message that we were coming out,” Steve said with a nod of understanding. Tony jerked a little, and his eyebrow started to down and in in confusion suddenly. Steve was on alert, watching Tony’s hand slowly reach back to his neck, then pulled out a small dart.

James had been watching Tony in his scope as the two talked, and he had just seen the path that the dart had taken. He pushed down on the anger at himself, focusing on the anger at the person who had shot Tony. He followed the path, and just saw the end of the barrel of another sniper rifle in the brush. He also saw the contained burst of fire as the trigger was pulled, another shot being fired, in his direction. James eyes widened as he pulled off his own shot just before he felt the sting of a hit in his shoulder.

“Soldier, report.” Steve’s voice sounded in his ear. His shield was out and he was running over to Tony. The genius was blinking sluggishly, his knees wobbling a bit, and Steve was just able to catch him before he tilted forward too much to faceplant.

James grunted a little as he pulled out the dart, the same dart that had hit Tony, and proceeded to tuck it into the pouch on his belt. “There’s a Hydra agent in the brush at my 12. He was hit, but I don’t know the damage. I’ve been tagged.” He heard Steve swear under his breath over the comm’s.

“I’ll pick up the agent. What’s your status?”

“I can get Tony back to the jet,” he said, already swinging his weapon onto his back. Steve gave the affirmative and Bucky made his way down from his spot and over to Tony. Steve had managed to get him to sit down, but looked like he was ready to tip over with a light breeze. A wave of dizziness passed over him fast, but it was enough to know that he needed to move fast.

“Buh?” Tony mumbled out, looking over to the man. His eyes were unable to focus, like he was trying to hold onto consciousness. “Dun feel goo’.”

“I bet,” Bucky said as he leaned down, swinging Tony’s arm across his shoulders. “Just a couple of minutes, and we’ll figure out what’s wrong.” It was a little harder to get Tony up and moving with the Iron Man suit on, but as soon as he was vertical Jarvis must have taken over to help Bucky out.

It took a little longer than he would have liked, but Bucky was able to get Tony inside the jet, and mostly lying down on the cot inside. He slumped down himself next to the cot, noticing he was breathing a little bit faster than normal, and his vision was starting to swim. The comm buzzed in his ear, and he winced before pulling it out. If he could just close his eyes, just a little bit of rest, he was sure that the serum would take care of it. He’d feel better after a little rest.

//\\\//\\\//\\\

Bruce, Natasha, and Clint were waiting when the AvengeJet touched down at the compound, the back opening up almost before it had powered down. Clint was there to catch the bound Hydra Agent, who had been grazed by the Soldier’s bullet on the side of his head, but would helpfully live. They would be able to question him.

“Do you have what they were hit with?” Bruce asked Steve as he stepped onto the jet, letting the spies handle the newest ‘house guest’. He took the small bag that had two darts in it over to Bruce. “How are-“ He stopped where Steve was, not really knowing what he was looking at.

The Iron Man armor was standing in guard mode. “Jarvis has taken over the armor,” Steve supplied, letting Bruce know that Tony was not in the armor. “I’m not quite sure what happened, Doc.” Steve’s confusion let his Brooklyn accent slip out. “Bucky got them both on board, and when I got back they were unconscious. Half way through the flight, I turned, and, well,…” he motioned to the two kids that was huddled on the cot, asleep, both swimming in shirts that were too big for them. “I’m pretty sure that’s Tony and Bucky, because no one else could have gotten on board mid-flight, and the Hydra goon was looking all too smug for his own good. I’m pretty sure this was planned.”

Tony looked as if he couldn’t have been older than 5, while Bucky looked closer to 10, but Bruce didn’t want to make any judgements until they woke up, and he was able to take a look at what was in the darts. “This certainly is something new,” the scientist murmured. “Alright, let’s get them over to Medical. I’d rather try and get some blood while they’re still out of it, just in case.” Steve nodded and leaned over the cot, scooping Tony up in one arm, and Bucky in the other. They didn’t wake up, but they didn’t look all that happy to be separated. Bruce made note of this.

He walked ahead of Steve, getting to Medical first, and started to prep one of the beds. He put the rails up first, then motioned for the Captain to put them both down on the bed before moving over to grab some equipment. Steve couldn’t help looking down at his sleeping friends, watched them as they huddled together again, but stayed asleep. Blowing out a breath, he ran his hand through his hair, and glanced over at Bruce. It was going to be a long night.

It was no surprise to him that Bucky had woken up first, eyes blinking open, then settling on Steve. Bruce had managed to get blood from the two boys first, so they didn’t have to worry about Bucky, or Tony, fighting them on that, which Steve was thankful for when he saw the position young Bucky took as soon as he saw Steve. The shaggy haired brunette was practically on top of Tony, almost like he was protecting him, from Steve. There was a hard look in his eyes that Steve was all too familiar with, something that he had seen for years when they were younger back in Brooklyn, and he was nothing but a gangly little stick.

Tony’s nose snuffled a little, moving like he didn’t want to wake up, trying to curl up under the blanket when Bucky had pressed himself to Tony’s side. Hazel eyes blinked open after a second, and then there was a frown on his face. He saw Bucky’s back, then peered over and saw Steve sitting there, and his eyes widened. Little hands flew to his mouth, and Tony was instantly looking around, for someone.

Bucky turned to look at Tony, feeling the smaller boy tense up, and pulled his hands down from his face. They started to whisper to each other, and Steve’s enhanced hearing was just able to pick it up. “I’m going to protect you.”

“But, if _he’s_ here, then that means-“

“Ain’t no one gonna hurt you, not while I’m here.”

“Can you be sure?” Tony’s voice was timid, almost afraid. Steve frowned slightly.

“I am. Cause I’m gonna protect you, cause you’re mine.” Big word from such a pint-sized Barnes.

“And you’re mine?” Tony asked, voice barely audible, but Bucky was nodding enthusiastically.

“That’s right, doll.”

Steve swiped a hand down his face, resisting the urge to groan outloud.

//\\\//\\\

They learned that Tony was actually closer to 8, that he had just always been small for a child. It would take longer to find out what had him so spooked when he first woke up, and why he had looked at Steve with such big, slightly frightened, eyes. Bruce was down in the lab, looking over bloodwork, and examining the darts that had been used, working on what had been done to their teammates, and how it could be reversed. Until that time though, that left the rest of the Avengers with the two children, and Clint and Natasha had left Steve to his own devices that morning. They claimed that they needed to go out and get proper clothes; Just in case of course.

Steve set down some plates in front of the two boys, waffles on each, blueberries on top of Tony’s, (he hoped that the younger version of Stark still liked the berries), and strawberries for Bucky’s. Tony stared at Steve for a few seconds longer than was comfortable, then looked down at his plate, almost like he was afraid to touch it. Bucky leaned over a little in his chair, putting a hand on Tony’s knees, and whispering something to him.

“You can eat it,” Bucky said in Tony’s ear, and Steve made himself appear busy so they didn’t know that he could still hear them.

“But, Jarvis didn’t make them,” Tony whispered back. His voice was so much softer than Bucky’s that even Steve had a hard time listening in. “Jarvis only makes them when _he_ is gone.”

“You eat your food.” Bucky told him solidly, then pushed the syrup over to him. Adult Tony always liked to add almost too much syrup to his waffles or pancakes. Steve wasn’t sure how Tony’s teeth hadn’t rotten from the pure amount of sweet and sugar.

Tony still looked nervous, before he took the syrup and started to pour it on the food. Bucky glanced up at Steve, and Steve swore that he saw the feisty little brunette send a glare his way. It was a glare that he was all too familiar with from when they were kids, and he was just some sickly, skinny, spitfire.

“Are you really Captain America?” If Steve hadn’t of been looking over towards them, he probably would have missed the softly asked question, and the shy way that Tony was looking at him. Steve nodded, taking his time folding up the towel he had been wiping the counter with slowly. “My Dad has been looking for you,” he said after a few seconds. Steve had a bad inkling, and he thought that perhaps he didn’t know Howard Stark as well as he thought. “Was he the one that found you?”

“No,” Steve said, shaking his head, and trying to appear casual. This younger Tony was so different than the one they were used too, and Steve felt like sometimes he needed to walk on eggshells around him. Or else Bucky might attack him. “SHIELD found me.”

Tony’s eyes widened slightly, but excitement warred with his apprehension. “Does that mean Aunt Peggy found you?”

Steve bit his lip a little, and shook his head. He and Tony had talked about Peggy once before, about everything that she had done after the war, and how she had tried to be there for Tony when he was younger, until her own family and SHIELD took up most of her time. And then her memory started to go.

“No, she wasn’t there.” They weren’t sure if telling Bucky and Tony that they used to be adults was the best course of action at this point, so they were trying to keep any information about their adult selves to a minimum. Tony’s nose scrunched a little, and he leaned in towards Bucky. Bucky wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulders, pulling him as close as he could in their chairs.

“Does that mean my Dad is around?” Tony asked softly.

“No,” Steve felt like he needed to answer immediately. That he needed to reassure Tony about something. It worked. Tony seemed to relax minutely. “He won’t be coming back, for a while.”

“Probably another business trip,” Tony mumbled. “He usually takes those when I’m home for boarding school.” Steve’s heart broke a little when he heard that. And it was something that Tony was so resigned to, like it was nothing out of the ordinary, but he also seemed relieved.

That’s when Tony’s head whipped to look at Bucky. “That means we can go exploring!” Then little Tony was off like a shot, his plate only half empty, and dragging Bucky after him. Two sets of laughter faded down the hall, and Steve couldn’t help but feel like this was a bad idea.

//\\\//\\\//\\\

“Barnes!” Steve winced he heard Nastasha’s growl coming from the common room. He left the kitchen, where he was attempting to make some lunch that the two boys might eat, to see that Natasha’s hair was flat, and dripping wet. There was no one else in the room, but the soft cackling of two little voices could be heard from the hallway.

“What makes you think that Tony didn’t do it?” Steve asked. The past two days had been a little hellish, if Steve were being honest. Since Tony had opened up, knowing that his dad wasn’t coming back, the two kids had been hellions around the Tower. The only person that hadn’t fallen victim to their wicked ways was Bruce. That’s because Jarvis had blocked off all access to any labs, and Bruce was still working on some way to reverse what had happened.

“I know that Stark was the mastermind,” she growled, standing up. Steve winced a little when a puddle of water that had been in her lap plopped to the ground. “But Barnes is the one who did all the heavy lifting.” Literally.

They heard the patter of feet running further down the hall, and Steve sighed a little.

“If Banner doesn’t figure out how to change them back soon, I’m going to hogtie them, and lock them in a cage in his lab, like two lab rats.” Steve knew she wouldn’t do it, but he also knew that she was getting fed up with their antics.

“What did they want to do this time?” Steve asked as he grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and tossed it over to her.

“Something about a shower, because we all needed to dress up,” she grumbled as she used it to dry off. Steve frowned before sighing and turning towards the hallway. He knew that he needed to find them before they got to the others. Again.

There was a trail of water that dotted the carpet, a perfect guide to the two children, and he saw the door to the stairwell close. Narrowing his eyes a little, Steve stepped closer and cautiously opened the door with one arm, staying inside of the hallway. Two splashes of water hit the floor where he would have been standing, twin giggles sounded in the stairwell, and the sound of another door swinging shut reached Steve’s ears. They were on the move. “Jarvis?”

“Young Sir, and Young Master Barnes have reached the Penthouse,” the AI answered. Steve heard the elevator door open. “I also have been asked to extend an open invitation to the rest of the Avengers to join the Young Masters in the Penthouse in half an hour. Fancy dress is preferred.” Steve raised an eyebrow. “I have been sworn to secrecy as to the event.”

“Jarvis, can’t you try and get Tony to, I don’t know, stop?” Steve asked, almost a little desperately.

“I’m afraid not, Captain Rogers.” He should have known that Jarvis would be loyal to Tony. “As it something that is not, and will not, cause any harm to Sir, then I see no need to put an end to their actions.” Steve tried not to groan out loud. “I have actually calculated this to be a positive action for the future, once Dr Banner has successfully created an antidote.”

“Jarvis-“

“I have the elevator prepared to take you to your floor should you wish to change, Captain.” Steve rolled his eyes a little, but couldn’t help but play along. Maybe it would get Bucky and Tony to stop trying to drop water on everyone. He wouldn’t hold his breath though.

//\\\//\\\//\\\

No one knew what to expect when they went up to the penthouse, but it certainly wasn’t what they saw. The furniture in the living room had been pushed back, with a white cloth covered pedestal in the center of the floor to ceiling windows. On either side of the pedestal was one couch. Lamps had been pulled out, covered in red cloth, and the bar had a red table cloth over it with a bowl of punch, and some finger foods on it. The kids were no where to be seen.

Steve had put on a button down shirt, wanting to humor them a little, and Thor had come in his Asgardian Court attire. Clint hadn’t bothered to change, secretly carrying a stun gun, (that Steve had made sure was deactivated), and Natasha had been forced to change clothes after getting all wet, and went with something in all black, while Bruce had come straight from the lab and managed to take off his lab coat before coming upstairs.

“Is that cake?” Clint spotted a two tiered, bright red, cake sitting on a small table, and started to head towards it. He stopped, yelping when he was nailed in the head by an orange tipped dart. The foam tip bounced the ground and they all saw Bucky with a nerf sniper rifle, standing on the pedestal, crouched in aim. Steve blinked his eyes wider when he saw that Bucky was in an all black little tux, with a red bowtie.

“The cake is for the reception,” he said seriously, slowly lowering the Nerf rifle. He stood up straight suddenly, smiling.

“Uh, Buck?” Steve asked, walking closer to his pint-sized best friend. “What’s going on?”

“Wha’s it look like?” He quipped, adult-sized Brooklyn accent shining through. “There’s a wedding!”

A few more pairs of eyes widened.

“To who??” Clint exclaimed.

“To him!” Bucky pointed, jumping down from the pedestal and running past them to the hallway that led to the bedrooms. Tony was walking out, grinning at Bucky. He was wearing an all red suit with a black bowtie, and he wrapped his arms around Bucky as soon as he was able to reach.

“If I may request that everyone take their seats,” Jarvis stated calmly, breaking the others from their shock.

Natasha just snorted and walked towards one of the couches. “Figures.” Everyone else shuffled over, still shaking off exactly what was happening. Once Steve saw Bucky and Tony walking up to the pedestal, set up for them, he realized that he should have seen it coming. As adults, Bucky had been spending a little more time down in the lab with Tony. He sat next him during meals and movie nights, and their banter had ramped up during battles. It was an unspoken thing between them that everyone had just learned to live with. If they weren’t going to say anything, then neither was the team.

Seems their child counterparts though had no qualms about declaring their love for each other.

“Young Sir, and Young Master Barned would like to thank everyone for showing up,” Jarvis started as soon as everyone was seated. “They have elected to not follow with the, and I quote, boring adult tradition, of regular nuptials.” Tony seemed to bite his lip to not giggle. “That being said, they are going to tell each other what they like the best, and then they would like to celebrate with cake.”

Tony dramatically cleared his throat, then tried not to blush when he felt everyone look at him. “Um, so I really like you James, a lot, maybe more than Jarvis and Ana.” Bucky’s eyes widened a little. “And I know you want to protect me, and take care of you, and you don’t think I’m weird. I mean, you shot someone with a nerf gun for me.” Bucky looked proud. “And that’s more than I’ve ever had, and it means a lot to me.” They two boys reached out to take each others hands. Steve twitched his nose, ignoring the tingling there.

“I protect those that are family, and those I love,” Bucky told Tony. “You’re one of mine. You’re the right kind of weird, and you light up a room wherever you are. My Mama would have said you’re something special, and I’d have to agree.” Tony smiled shyly at Bucky, but his eyes were bright.

“If I may, I would declare the two of you bound through feelings.” The Avengers gathered couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the wording, knowing that one of the boys had picked out the phrasing. They clapped when Tony and Bucky hugged each other tightly, before happily declaring, “Cake!”

//\\\//\\\//\\\

Steve pulled the blanket over the two boys, Bruce standing next to him checking their vitals. He had slipped the antidote into their punch, right after having some cake. It knocked them out pretty quickly, and Steve and Bruce had whisked them off to Tony’s bedroom.

“They should wake up in a couple of hours back to normal.”

“And their memories of what happened?” Steve had to ask.

“Will be intact.” Bruce smirked.

//\\\//\\\//\\\

Bucky was the first to stumble into the communal kitchen the next day, sweats and a tank top, looking vaguely like he was fighting a hangover. Steve pushed a plate of food towards him. No one said anything, waiting another five minutes for an equally unbalanced Tony to come out. He pulled a too large hoodie, (one of Bucky’s for sure), over his head and took a seat next to Bucky.

“What were we hit with?” Tony asked, vaguely looking towards Bruce.

“You’re not going to like it,” Bruce said, sliding a tablet over towards him.

Tony grabbed it, sliding his finger over the screen a couple of times, before groaning loudly. “I hate magic. Why does everyone feel the need to lace stuff with magic?”

“They planned on taking you back to raise as their own personal weapon smith,” Natasha filled in. Tony’s face twisted. “It was pure luck that they saw Barnes.”

“They would have tried for a better version of the Soldier,” Bucky said gruffly, and the spy nodded. He huffed, leaning back in to his plate.

“There was enough magic left in the dart that Bucky managed to pull out to work into the antidote,” Bruce filled in for them.

The two men nodded a little, tucking into food and coffee. There was a distinct silence until Clint walked into the kitchen, grinning. “Is there any wedding cake left?” Tony choked on his coffee and Bucky shot a glare at the archer. “What? Now you can stop pretending, right? When’s the real wedding?” Clint yelped, again, when another orange tipped nerf dart hit the center of his forehead. Tony grinned as Bucky set the nerf gun on the counter.

Steve let out a sigh and dropped his head; trying to hide his grin when Tony leaned in to give Bucky a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I had so many amazing prompts to work with from the wonderful Karinna_Universe, and it was hard to pick just one! I ended up going with one that I hadn't really tackled before, and I hope I really did it justice!
> 
> De-aged Winteriron. Kid!Tony and Kid!Bucky terrorizing Avenger's Tower and making plans for their wedding because adult Bucky and Tony might be terrible at communicating but their child versions love each other and have no qualms about saying so.
> 
> I'm notorious for writing on forever, and I wanted to try and keep this on the shorter, and cuter side. I hope you like it Karinna_Universe!! It was so much fun!


End file.
